India A tame Saha and Co.

Rajkot: Shikhar Dhawan remained unbeaten on 99 after Ishant Sharma returned a four-wicket haul as India A thrashed Bengal by eight wickets in the opening match of the NKP Salve Challenger Trophy, here on Saturday.

It was an all-round performance by India A as they bundled out Bengal to a meagre 193 and then reached the target with 12.4 overs to spare.

Captain Wriddhiman Saha was top-scorer with 65 while Arnab Nandi (43) and Jayojit Basu (42) were the other notable scorers for Bengal.

Ishant (4/29) and spinner Pragyan Ojha (3/40) shared seven wickets between them as Bengal batsmen struggled against the pace-spin duo.